Hi there,

I failed twice before until I passed the third time with excellent results.

I worked with several projects as PM and thought that was enough. I read the PMBOK guide and took some prepcast videos (but not all), did some exam prep (but not completing). I did take the exam in 2018 December and as soon as I failed, I rescheduled my 2nd exam in less than 3 months, of course, I failed again.

On my second failure, I paused a bit, reviewed my scores where I have poor performance (Executing and Closing are Below Target). I focused 2-3 hours a day while continuing to study at least 1 hr a day for Initiating, Planning, and Monitoring. I got more interested while getting embedded in the studies that I was even listening to Daniel Ryan and Margaret Meloni's PMP lectures. I also read Rita's prepbooks as a supplement of Prepcast.

I took the exam after 6 months and pleased that the preparation, planning, and strategies paid off - I got 2 AT, 2 T, and closing was almost T (BT). I think as Project Managers, we need to really dedicate planning, strategizing, and preparing for projects, and this is what I missed during my first two attempts.

Hope my experience helps.

Felix, I had been doing small mock quizzes only averaging around 60%. The last two mock quizzes prior to testing the second time was 66 and 70 PM Prepcast.
Maybe I will invest in a paid course because I can't seem to find any good 1on1 tutoring. And starting tomorrow I will be reading a chapter a day in the PMBOK. I felt confident going in, but once in the exam my confidence level was so-so. I thought I would pass. I had been studying every day around 6-8 hours since I had my first exam.

Sorry to learn about that Joseph.
I think reading the whole content of the PMBOK is essential for the preparation of the exam, and doing more than one mock exam with 70% or above can give you more confidence.
You still have one more chance and you can capitalize on all the lessons learnt from your previous experiences.
Several messages in this forum are talking about experiences such yours and how they have been overcome. That can be also a good source of inspiration for you.

Sincerely,

So, I rushed and took the PMP test again (first attempt was June 11th.) I watched some videos but mainly took practice exams … 50 at a time at 60% success. Today, I scored my first 70% and felt I was ready. Apparently that was a mistake. My experience is through the military 8-9 years ago and was not very formalized. I'm wondering if I just do not have the OJT knowledge that my exam counterparts have... also I have not read the PMBOK except for maybe the integration section in the beginning.

I've decided that I'm going to wait out my year by then I'll have completed my MBA and maybe I'll get into a PM role (at my current company) where I may not even need the PMP anymore.
Who knows.
Obviously self studying is not working for me and I'm not a very good test taker. I've taken a ton of tests in my life and maybe a few I've passed on the first attempt.
Envy all the others who pass on their first attempts!